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TV marathons

The New York Times recently wrote an interesting story about people "binge-viewing" TV shows—or watching all the episodes of a season in one burst—and how it's changing the way executives think about programming. It made me laugh to think how many times I've done that. Back in my single days, I went on crazy jags with Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Gray's Anatomy. Alex and I have done it with Mad Men and Homeland. We tried to do it with Breaking Bad, but I started having nightmares and couldn't handle it.

The funny thing about watching TV shows all in a row is that they get in your head. You start thinking like the characters with the same slang and intonation, and you almost forget it's not real life. At least, that's happened to me:)

411 comments:

We love to watch television like this! we just got done with Bones, i've done it with Grey's Anatomy and Downton Abbey, and we also tried to do it with Breaking Bad (that show is intense)! I'm in the midst of a marathon of White Collar right now ...

My husband and I just had a Mad Men-athon, rewatching seasons 1-4 before we started in on season 5. So much fun! Also pretty sure we did 24 and The Wire that way. Some shows are just to good to have to wait week by week for the next installment.

I will definitely diagnose myself as a binge TV viewer! I don't have HBO so I buy the shows when they come out...everyone knows that when the new true blood season is out that they will not see for a day or two or three...I also did it with Girls. I watched it in one full night!! =)

We just finished season one of Homeland and all I can think about is when season two comes out! My husband and I talk about Brody and Carrie as if we know them personally. We did the same thing with Mad Men!

24!!!!!!! It was the worst, you just kept HAVING to play the next show, next hour, and then all of a sudden a day disappeared from your life :) Then you finished a season and HAD to go get the next... terrible but awesome. I think we stopped after three seasons though :)

Last winter, over Christmas holidays and a bout of the flu, we watched 4 season of Breaking Bad in 22 days. It was our own meth addiction - we're fine now, thanks.

Then - we watched The Sopranos. This was less a drug addiction and more life a buffet - a delicious, Italian buffet. At first, I hated it. I'm Italian and felt that the show did an awful job at portray my culture - no self-respecting would pronounce those words incorrectly or name their daughter "Meadow." But then - oh man - I "got" it and it felt like I was watching my own father there on the screen (minus the whacking and misogyny). So good.

Most recently: Homeland. I got so into it I felt like maybe I too have a personality disorder! My husband is glad we're through that one...

I love show binging - it feels less bloaty than binge eating and way less headachey than binge drinking. It's the best way to consume TV!

I used to watch Gilmore Girls like that whenever I needed to recharge. DH & I have done that with Eureka & Warehouse 13 and Lost Girl. I did with the first few seasons of Weeds and Dexter. We actually hard watch any shows that are still airing, just watching ones that are over so we tend in that general direction a fair amount. Though when we had a 5 disc DVD player we mixed it up a bit more, usually having 4 different shows going at once that we'd rotate through as we were moved.

My husband and I do a lot of that kind of tv watching since we don't have any kind of normal tv, just Netflix and HuluPlus. We've watched Mad Men, Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and many others. Our current show to binge on is The West Wing (so good!).

I just knocked out season 1 of Downton Abbey in a day. Also, I discovered Netflix has one of my favorite shows ever, Alias, so I've been watching that all over again non-stop lately. Binge watching is dangerous!

I watched all of Downton Abbey in the span of about a week, and am currently busting through The Walking Dead thanks to a marathon last weekend on AMC! This is pretty much the only way I watch series-it's too hard to commit to the same space of time from week to week.

I am sooo glad to hear you say that about Breaking Bad. It is such a fantastic show but we were watching it while I was pregnant last fall and I just. could. not. handle. it. I told my husband I couldn't watch it anymore when our daughter was born. So I haven't seen it past the beginning of season 4. It was making me anxious and the dreams were crazy (pregnancy dreams are crazy anyway!)

LOST!!!! It was so hard, when we finally caught up, to sit through commercials. Oh my goodness the winter of 2008 we went through 3 seasons in one month. It was such a fun thing my husband and I did before kids but I also wish we took some more time to process what we just saw instead of watching 4 (or 8) episodes in one sitting.

I've been watching Parenthood non stop since the beginning of the year. And I DO feel like their problems are my problems. I've woken up anxious or sad and couldn't understand why... and then I realized that I was holding on to whatever was going on to the characters.

It's kind of like when I'm listening to a long voice message and then I actually respond because I have forgotten that I'm not actually listening to a real person but a voice mail.

That's how I watch almost all of my shows-especially HBO and Showtime series! Newsroom, Girls, Homeland. I also did it with newer shows (just in case they got cancelled, ain't nobody got time for that!) like Downton Abbey and Parks and Recreation. Netflix has definitely helped this behavior!

You have to watch BLACK MIRRROR by Charlie Brooker on Channel 4 UK first aired in UK December 2011. They are 3 independent shows with a scoial commentary on life and how it could be in the modern age. They are BRILLIANT all my friends and I have watched them, or caught up with them after. Second round started last night and it was just as good. Show cases some real british talent but be warned they are dark comedies - some I can't watch on my own - next week I am going to a friends to watch. They carried with me.

The Wire was my gateway drug. I also loved the first season of Friday Night Lights, Entourage, Mad Men and now Downton Abbey. Television has improved so much, so many of the shows are better than movies.

I've done this a lot! Ironically, I was doing this with Portlandia on Netflix when one of the episodes has them watch the entire Battlestar Galactica series in about a week's time -- they forget to shower, lose their jobs, don't pay their bills, etc. -- hah!

Freaks & Geeks, My So Called Life, Community, Gilmore Girls... As of late, the first season of Girls, which filled me with anxiety and made my 23-year-old mind think "Am I supposed to act like this?!" Thankfully the anxiety subsided a few episodes later and I decided "No. Definitely not!" :)

love this post! when the blizzard hit nyc i curled up and watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards with Kevin Spacey! It's incredible and on netflix streaming! If you like Mad Men and Homeland you'll love this one! :)

Who has time to watch TV in real time?? Netflix is the ONLY way I watch any television at all! I just finished watching Lost and loved it! I've done the same thing with Breaking Bad and even Twin Peaks! Haha!

I am a total binge TV watcher. In fact, I tend to wait until popular shows have played out a season before I watch them, so I don't have to wait week to week to see what happens. Last year I binged on Homeland, Happy Endings and a bunch of circa 1980/90s sitcoms on Netflix.

I did that at one point with seasons of Seinfeld (which I still love)...and then I started to realize: These people are really kind of despicable! How are they getting me to laugh about this stuff?! Ha.

Wow I can really relate to this. I've done this with Friday Night Lights (twice!). Most recent (and perhaps most embarrassing) Gossip Girl. I could list a lot more. I realize this has become my way of watching shows. I don't own a television and haven't for several years, so I watch everything online. Either Hulu or Netflix. Also, being a grad student when I am sick of studying I find binge-watching a low grade, entertainment-only tv show helps chill me out (and procrastinate). Kind of sad, but true!

I'm so glad to hear you say that about Breaking Bad! I watched a few episodes and couldn't take it either, but I feel like such a wimp when other people talk about how amazing it is. Yay for fellow wimps! :)

We have HBO on demand and watched Game of Thrones during just a few days. Now we are hooked on True Blood. It's so addicting to be able to watch all the episodes of a series all at once! And it's true that the story gets in your head -- I'm always thinking about different aspects of the plot and why the characters might have made various decisions.

oh gosh. my husband travels a lot, so i did this with both dawson's creek and felicity. it messed with my brain so bad, i started talking about the characters like they were my friends. my husband almost started an intervention for me.

My family first started watching Lost a couple seasons in so to catch up we would watch several episodes a night (just one more, pleaaaase?? it's okay, I have nothing important going on at school tomorrow.. I can be a little tired!)by the time we caught up we were all so used to watching multiple episodes that it was like going through withdrawals only being able to watch one PER WEEK.

Every now and then I'll get a craving to watch a whole season of Grey's Anatomy, but I always have to stop because I get so bogged down and depressed because of the constant emotional situations..

My husband and I binged with Lost in a matter of months so we could watch the final episode real time. We lived and breathed the show for a few months, we discussed it constantly, and when it was finally over we felt sadness and a little "lost" ourselves... We were totally addicted and missing it and going through withdrawel.

The list of shows I've done this with is a little embarrassing but here it goes (in order of importance!): Alias, Downton Abbey, Homeland, Dexter, Breaking Bad, ER, One Tree Hill, The O.C., Dawson's Creek and Grey's Anatomy. I've gone back to watch Alias and ER (all 15 seasons of it) from start to finish once per year.

Hihi, you made my day with this post!That's exactly what I'm doing the past couple of days ;)I've caught a terible flue last week, unable to leave the bed. So I've got a new but truly deep relationship wih my notebook, living with me on my bed.And we watch thousands of series online ;)

Just found the serie "Hart of Dixie", never heard about it here in Germany. But I started to love it! Two days later... and I saw ALL episodes (incl. an overdoses of Taylor Swift *urgh*)

Oh yeah, I'm totally addicted to series, much better than movies! And yeas, if you watch them in a row, you feel more attached to them!

I did that with Arrested Development too! And Breaking Bad...but had to leave my husband behind because he didn't want to watch the episodes with the same gusto as myself. Ha. We're watching Homeland now and I got a few episodes ahead of him and am trying to be patient as he slowly catches up.

I am another person without cable which means I stream exclusively and usually watch tv in marathons (I love my roku!). downton abbey, homeland, mad men, doctor who, community... the funny thing is that my preschool daughter does it as well--for about a week or two it was all wonder pets all the time which meant our lives became an opera and she sang EVERYTHING! right now she is stuck on diego which means I keep getting lots of random animal facts.

This is now completely my favorite way to watch TV! 24, Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, Lost, The Wire, Mad Men, Sports Night (totally underrated early Aaron Sorkin), and finally during Sandy...Homeland. The only downfall is when you catch up to live programming and have to wait each week after being spoiled of your own schedule.

All the time! Usually it surrounds the birth of a baby. With my oldest, I'd turn on Gilmore Girls in the middle of the night, then with my second it was Lost, and with the third it was *blusing* Gossip Girl. But it continues with Dowton Abbey, How I Met Your Mother, and House of Cards.

I completely agree with you that you get very invested in the characters and plot and it stays with you. I actually find it akin to reading every book in a series. When it's over you kind of mourn it in the same way...

After I binge read The Hunger Games series, I felt there was a void in my life, so I binged on Downton Abbey. I became obsessed with tea while I was watching the first two seasons. ;) I've also binged on Mad Men and The Vampire Diaries.

I couldn't stand Breaking Bad neither!!! Too violent!!! My wife and I have huge TV marathons since we live in the North of Germany it is super cold and we don't have many friends. Gray's Anatomy, Mad Men, Homeland, Two Broke Grisl, Mindy Project, The Big Bang Theory, Glee (I have a soft spot for Glee and most of its characters. I also hate one of them as if she was real!), Heroes, Sex and the City, The Sopranos... you name it! We also have super long conversation about our favourite shows with our friends that live in Spain or Ireland :)www.theslowpace.wordpress.com

Never. Maybe I'll get a season and watch one here, or two there, but never in one sitting - it will take me maybe 3-4 months. It took me six months to get through "The Good Wife: Season 1". There's just too many other things to do - I'm never sitting! :)

Oh I can completely relate to this. We binge watched Breaking Bad and I kept seeing Mr. White everywhere. I would scream it out to my husband, "THAT GUY LOOKS LIKE MR. WHITE!" and I started to say "yo" and then end of every section like Jesse. Now I'm doing it with Downton Abbey and my brain is thinking with a British accent, and everything I say sounds witty and well thought out like the grandma. It's hilarious. Oh and of course I did it with Mad Men, and all I could think about for days was Don Draper.

I agree with the above commenters... House of Cards is AMAZING. Also binge-watched The Sopranos the first summer I was pregnant and house-bound--gave me super sexy Tony Soprano dreams! lol The next time I was pregnant and house-bound in the summer (heatwave, A/C in my bedroom, thank you very much), I binge-watched 5 seasons of Mad Men in less than 2 weeks... those dreams were MUCH better ;)

Now, I have less time for binge-watching, haha, but my husband and I have managed, half of Breaking Bad (I have to pace myself on that now too, so intense), Homeland, Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom, and uh.... Pretty Little Liars. That show IS like crack.. you know it's bad, but... just. one. more. time.

Currently in the middle of West Wing slow-burn binge. (trying to make up for all those pretty little liar episodes ;)

I watched the first season of Downton Abbey on my iPad...and finished just in time to start the second season when it came on.

Haven't missed an episode since...now I record them.

Currently, I have the first season of Girls on my iPad...I've watched the first 2 episodes...I'll have to do the same thing with the current season (if I continue...not totally sure yet), since I don't have HBO.

So funny you're writing about this today because that's pretty much all I've been doing for the past few months - bingeing on shows. First, it was Dawson's Creek. Then Sons of Anarchy - which was a HUGE step in the opposite direction - and I just finished The Walking Dead (to which I'm all caught up now). I think next up I'll do Breaking Bad and Justified when I have time. I hear they are amazing shows.

Oh my goodness. 'Game of Thrones' will have you sitting there and hours pass by unknowingly.

There is a British series called 'Luther' which I could just watch in one sitting too. He is like a cross between the ol Columbo and Dr House (but a cop)....but he super-smart, gorgeous and crosses MANY ethical boundaries with the suspects

Total binge watchers in my house. We've binged on Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, Lost, West Wing, Breaking Bad, Damages (currently watching and LOVE), Justified, House of Cards, etc. I should note that my husband and I don't always binge watch the same show at the same time. Lately we are both in bed at 9:30 glued to the streaming Netflix on our iPads.

I got into the LOST craze very late... like in the final season late. I managed to start watching it in March and getting caught up to the series finale a day before. I had way too many LOST related dreams. It was insane. I tend to do this a lot, mainly because of the long train rides I take when I go home for the holidays from Vermont to Philadelphia. The last "TV binge" i did was with Madmen, I am now anxiously awaiting the season premiere!

Qe watched Breaking Bad in one big marathon, but no nightmares for us. love that show! we watched til we caught up to the current season. Also, LOST!!! We would literally do nothing for many weekends in a row except watch Lost in 14-18 hour stints LOL. I think it might be the best show ever made.

When I had Netflix, I watched The Office in 1.5 days until I caught up with the current season, a few years ago. In fact, I try not to watch new current shows with an ongoing plot now until the show is over so I can watch the whole show at once. I just hate the waiting and anticipation of a new season.

this is seriously so weird that you posted this. i was Honestly just thinking about how disgusted i am with how many Vampire Diaries I've watched. I've burned through three and a half seasons faster than i'd care to admit. i feel like it does mess with my head! it's really violent and scary and the teenage drama leaves me feeling so weird. i am gonna take a looooong break.

Oh my gosh, my boyfriend and I are so guilty of this. And thanks to Netflix, we have had our share. Let's see, where do I even start on the list of shows we've been guilty of watching in "marathon-form"

- 30 Rock, Shameless, Dexter, Weeds, The Office, Mad Men, Parenthood.

Actually - it's how we catch up on the years of TV we've missed by living and working in NYC.

Homeland!! My husband received the first season for Christmas. We couldn't wait for the second season to come out on DVD so we ordered Showtime to watch it ON DEMAND. We watched the full second season in two days...not so proud of that :)

My husband and I lived in NYC when we first married, and before he started school/I started a job, we watched a marathon of Lost. We would stay up til 5am watching it and have the DVD's delivered in the middle of the night (gotta love the city that never sleeps). I had dreams for days of being lost in a jungle. We also have watched The Office, Arrested Development, 24, Homeland, and Downton Abbey marathons. It's the best!

Felicity is the most memorable, and Downton Abbey is the most recent :) I think I flew through Felicity's entire college career in about 3 weeks right after I graduated college, during the limbo before moving to Austin. :)

It'd probably be faster to list all the tv shows I haven't done this with. Lost and 24 are the best/worst for binge-watching...they cliff-hanger you SO hard, and you're almost physically compelled to hit "next" as soon as the credits roll.

It is so funny that I just read your post while I am sitting in front of my computer watching the 10th episode of Grey`s Anatomy today instead of learning for my exams. I am totally addicted to it. It´s reassuring to knwo that I am not the only one who is starting to think like the characters ;)

My guy and I did the same thing with Breaking Bad, but after the first few episodes I had to institute a new rule: no Breaking Bad before bedtime. It was too stressful, and I'd have crazy dreams or stay up half the night worrying about what was going to happen next. I made it through the whole series and loved it, but right before sleep it is just too much.

stuck in bed with flu for the last four days, i desperately needed a little cheer-up, so i went through season 1-5 of 30 rock. and i learned that in spite of my coughing and sneezing, "there's someone else who's having a worse day. like being stung by a bee. or getting a splinter. or being chained to a wall in someone's sex dungeon." bless you, kenneth parcell! (and laughter really IS the best medicine!)

Friday Night Lights. I was YEARS behind, but a few months back I watched the entire season in about a month -- I would watch 3 episodes a night. I would text my boyfriend plot developments like they were happening to my real-life friends.

Currently doing this with Breaking Bad. Its all I can think about all day! I just want to get home to watch our show. My husband has plans tonight and I'm already in a panic that I wont be able to watch it until he gets home. Ahhh!

I recently read that NYT article and thought it was spot-on! I have "binged" on The Office, and my boyfriend and I are doing that with Breaking Bad right now. I agree about the nightmares, though, that show can be so spooky!

We binge watched Mad Men and the first season on Parenthood. (Finished watching Phood on regular tv after we feel head over heels in love with it. If you need a great show in your life, this is it.) My husband sneak watches shows that I'm not interested in when I am asleep!

That's crazy! Also such apt timing since I just started watching Parks & Recreation two weeks ago and I'm now on season four and LOVE it! After college exams when I'm on our break I always 'binge' on a new series and even relate different programmes I've watched to various semesters in college. I love doing it because i get really into the stories and whole series life as you said. Grey's is always a great option for this and a great way to relax and forget about reality for a while.

Oh God, I'm so guilty of doing this with Grey's Anatomy. I watched the first few series on TV, with the week long gaps, but I think I've binge-watched series 5-8 (they were on TV when I was at uni and I'm not the illegal-online-watching kind of girl). So when I got the boxsets, I'd watch the whole series in like a week. It's almost embarrassing. And I am definitely just about to start re-watching The OC, which I already know I'll do in like a weekend. (Clearly I have no life) x

"Lost." At least once a year (and thankfully not more than two times a year), I watch that whole darn thing from start to finish. I could never watch it when it was on TV because of the commercials and having to wait a week between episodes to find out what happened next, so I just waited til the whole thing was available to stream online, ha!

My husband and I have done TV marathons with Mad Men and with Downton Abbey (just finished watching the third season!!). We also did this with the first season of Breaking Bad, and while the show is great, I too found that I had trouble falling asleep at night, so we ditched that one.

I love doing this! I've done television marathons with Gilmore Girls, Dowtown Abbey, Dawson's Creek and Friday Nights Lights. I feel that with Netflix, it's so much easier to just watch episode after episode!

I did that in grad school when I got in to Bones. More recently I've done it with Arrested Development, Better of Ted (totally underrated show), Downton Abbey, and my favorite show Fringe. On my list are Homeland, 30 Rock, Parks & Rec, and Breaking Bad (though apparently I shouldn't watch it at night, looking at other comments).

I don't have cable currently, so HuluPlus and DVDs are my go-to. (Had Netflix, but didn't like it as much. Wish I could watch House of Cards though!) Not all the shows I want to watch are available, so when the DVDs come out, I am totally going to binge-watch Justified and American Horror Story too.

I felt the same way about Breaking Bad! That show really freaked me out. I loved Mad Men, Homeland, and Downton Abbey. Another one that's available on Netflix that we have started watching is Parenthood!

24! And we will do this with The Lord of The Rings Extended Edition Movies. It's been our tradition to watch all 3 back-to-back sometime around New Year's Eve/Day. I think it equates to 16 hours. We've done this for 7 years or so. And before kids we would literally blow up our air mattress, put it in front of our TV with lots of pillows and blankets and make all our favorite snack/junk foods in advance for this annual marathon. We would simply put the movies on pause if we were tired and resumed when we woke up. This year, between a 2 year old, a 2 month old and job responsibilities, it took us 16 days to get through it - an hour a night!

I'm a pro at this. If it were an Olympic competition I'd have gold. I've done it with a laundry list of shows but most recently with Battlestar Galactica (Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell version). I'm not into science fiction so don't let the title scare you away. It's basically a brilliant suspenseful drama that takes place on a Battleship during war. My word of warning is AVOID SPOILERS! The reason the show is so amazing is because of the mystery.

I had the same problem with breaking bad! Everyone kept telling me it was the best show ever, so I gave it a second and THIRD chance. I just couldn't sleep after one episode and when I finally did I had nightmares. I had to quit it. I love action and spy movies, but for some reason I couldn't handle that show! It was good, but got under my skin a bit too much! :)

I've done this with Arrested Development, Ally McBeal, and most notably The West Wing -- during which I brought up a fictional foreign policy matter as if it were real. I work at the White House, so...

I was the same way with Breaking Bad! It was such a downer sometimes I would go to bed feeling depressed! Blagh! We're binge viewing Walking Dead, a depressing show as well but there's a lot of hope, BB not so much. But now we're all caught up so we have to watch like normal people! EEK!

My husband and I were just talking about how our TV habits have changed to watching shows "in bulk" as we called it. Since we don't have cable and rely on Hulu Plus and Netflix for our "DVR" it's easy to wait until the show builds up in our queue or is released and binge on the episodes. My favorite shows to binge on are Downton Abby, Mad Men, Once Upon a Time and Anthony Bourdain.

Parenthood, Homeland, the Wire, the Tudors, Downtown Abbey, and Arrested Development. Come to think of it, I don't think I watch anything live anymore. (except the TODAY show!)PS-Breaking Bad gave me nightmares too. Way to dark for me!

When my BF and I were in a long distance relationship, we always watched a couple episodes of a show every night before bed. It kept us close and gave us something fun to talk about the next day together. our go to's have been Arrested Development and Parks and Recreation.

But of course my guilty binge tv shows are The Tudors, Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl... not sure what this says about me, but I love them all the same. =)

I loooove watching TV shows like this. I'm often hesitant to add a "new show" to my lineup, so I wait for everyone I trust to love a show for a couple of seasons and then I get it on DVD :) Some that I've done this with: Alias, West Wing (best. show. ever.), Felicity (though I was actually VERY into this while it was on TV too, I just rewatch it), HIMYM, 24, Mad Men. We've got Season 1 of Homeland ready to watch when we have some down time coming up!

Six Feet Under, it changed my outlook on life, I became pretty rambunctious while watching it over a few months. Recently, Game of Thrones, Portlandia and Mad Men. The Wire and Breaking Bad give me anxiety, so I can only watch them once in a while.

I once went on a '24' bender for like 3 days! That show was so addicting for the first few seasons.. then I got frustrated with it and stopped watching. I do love a good TV marathon! Interested in this show that Netflix made specifically for that.

Oh my gosh, I was the same exact way about Breaking Bad! I told my husband I was going to get an ulcer from the stress if we watched anymore back to back! Weekly is much better for me when that show gets crazy!

I can "binge watch" the first season of "The O.C." any day of the week, though :)

I feel you on Breaking Bad. Just couldn't get into to it; the show is really dark. Right now, my husband and I are really into Game of Thrones. We have also been addicted to True Blood; just waiting for the next season, it's so sassy:)

Oh I can completely relate to this... I don't think I've ever actually started a series from the very beginning. I always go on a "binge" & then start watching the show regularly after that. Try and give Breaking Bad another chance... I think it's one of the best written shows on TV right now! It can be shocking and gross at times, but there's a humorous undertone as well.

The first show I ever binged watched was the Sopranos, years ago:). We didn't have premium cable and were visiting my parents who did. Now with so many great shows I have caught up on 24, Downton Abby, Weeds, Revenge, And Gossip Girl. I watch on my Ipad while I do chores, fold laundry. It is a great was to be productive so long as you don't get to engrossed in the show. Just started Homeland with my husband.

With the wonderful invention of Netflix, I'd have to say this happens all too often. I've done it with Downton Abbey, Mad Men, New Girl, Grey's Anatomy and Psych to name a few (which I think is enough).

Parenthood-- over the course of a few months. i'm a newlywed and wathced it with my husband. i started thinking we needed to have 4 kids like the bravermans... ha!

Gilmore Girls-- i watched this entire series in a span of a few months while my now-husband and i were in a long-distance relationship. this show totally started to feel like my reality and i just wanted to live in stars hallow. also made me want to be in college again.

ha - timely! I was in and out of the hospital all last week with an inflamed appendix (ugh), and had a lot of downtime - and I watched the first three seasons of Modern Family. =) It's the only way I'll hold still/rest!

There are too many to name without being embarrassed (I am definitely in double digits over the last few years). My last 2 years of law school were spent making up for the 0 minutes of fun I had during the first year, I guess.

I will say, though, that this is pretty much the only way I watch TV anymore. There are a few shows I have tried to keep up with on a weekly basis like The Killing, Mad Men, and Once Upon a Time (although I got into all of them by binge watching old episodes first). But generally I can't stick with the weekly format. I work a lot during the week, so it works better for my schedule to just zone out and watch many episodes of a show on the weekend.

Battlestar Galatica, Weeds, The Tudors, the list goes on. And you are right, you start to use the shows slang and I totally dream about these shows too. It was pretty bad when I was pregnant and watching The Tudors (Hello Henry Cavil sex scenes!).

I can totally relate to your experience with Breaking Bad. We tried watching the first season a few months ago, but stopped because I was having such terrible nightmares!! Now we stick to PG programming like Downton. :)

Yes!! Every summer my husband and I pick a show we haven't yet watched and stay up way too late, for several nights in a row, devouring the seasons. Last summer it was Mad Men, summer 2011 it was How I Met Your Mother, and in 2010 it was Friday Night Lights. Also, I utterly adored the Gilmore Girls and now I'm re-watching from the beginning while I work (I'm a food writer and spend lots of time in the kitchen cooking with videos playing on my laptop).

One of the things my boyfriend and I connected over was our love of The West Wing. When we first started dating we watched all 7 seasons over the first months together. Now if we've had an argument or one of us is sick we watch a few episodes. Like a bowl of chicken noodle it soothes our souls.

Other personal favs: Downton Abbey (I'm obsessed), Weeds, Lost, and Game of Thrones.

I just did that over Christmas with "Call the Midwife" from BBC. I watched a free episode and was totally sucked in. And as a new mom the storyline was so heartwrenching. I was crying at every episode, and my husband could not understand why I'd keep pressing play on the next one. I couldn't stop! I simply love that show, and I'm excited every week for the new episode.

Downton Abbey! Then I read everything in an upper-crust British accent for a while (in my head). We've also worked our way through Buffy, Angel, and now Supernatural and The West Wing. It's fun to have such a reliable form of entertainment.

I am the poster child for this, because I haven't owned an actual TV in about 4 years so Netflix is the way it goes for me. Right now? I'm on a West Wing kick. The funny thing about not owning a TV for so long is that, even with Netflix, I rarely feel like I have time to watch TV anyways. So even my binge-ing is slow going! Right after I graduated from college I didn't have a job for a couple months and was back at my parents' place....let's just say, they owned like 5 seasons of Lost on DVD and that definitely became a fixation.

Homeland, Six Feet Under and now House of Cards. House of Cards seems made to be consumed whole! I feel like I start to dress like the characters. Homeland= couldnt get enough of my menswear, House of Cards= I just bought a tight fitting work dress that is so Claire's style. Funny how that works...

YES! 24 is the best! My husband and I are afraid to start another season because we won't be able to stop. But, with 2 small children we HAVE to stop otherwise we lose A LOT of sleep. 24 takes over you life!

Downton Abbey while I was on vaycay with my best friend and my boyfriend and I just went through 30 Rock (we were living under a rock and hadn't seen it). It's fun, but then I feel like a horrible human being! I should read more... :)

First binge i ever did was LOST and watched it with my kids -- we even had a finale dinner where we dressed as our favorite character and ate friend chicken.Right now it's Bones and 30 Rock -- and next up is Downton Abbey!!i tried doing it with Dexter but it was too overwhelming for me.Fun post!

I've done it with Mad Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Walking Dead, and Arrested Development. And more recently, Saved by the Bell, since it's on Netflix. I love binge-viewing, because I don't really have much time during the week to watch tv.